“That… Little Sister, are you certain that you brought water? Not poison?” Xi Lingxin’s brow creased as she craned her neck down towards the pail heaved in An Fei’s arms. The seemingly impossible depth of water dashed in a healthy shade of violet caused her heart to tightly pound with worry, but the young girl had already poured the contents …

“Absolutely not! Mei Yue, are you trying to sabotage the Morning Star Temple!?” “Negotiations have already broken down, so what if we push from a different angle? The Soul-Binding Contract has already been formed, he can’t possibly reject it.” Two women argued at the base of the Mourning Peak, the sleeves of their robes billowed and tousled by a fierce …

The journey back to the Mourning Peak was hardly eventful, much to An Fei’s surprise. After they confirmed that her lack of resistance, the members of the Morning Star Temple merely retreated to their former positions without a further word, going as far to the extent of allowing the young girl to retain her qama. With an exasperated celestial maiden …

Responding the Xu Lingxin’s actions was no difficult feat, even more so as An Fei merely had to raise the qama in defense. The young girl glanced at the shimmering reflection of her fatigued self in the blade, and tightened her grasp. Alas… “Little Sister, your arm is trembling. Have you not learned how to use a knife in combat?” …

The mass of people occupying the skeletal, decaying remains of a human settlement suffered from a vast variety of symptoms that An Fei could only have remembered in the numerous textbooks and academic journals she had read before. Massive warts and blisters soaked with rotting blood and seeping with an unknown, yellowish gelatinous fluid that sprayed a revolting, sulfuric odor …

“…everything has gone astray, damn it all.” Once the silent and serene visage of the Mourning Forest had left the fringe of her vision, An Fei heaved an enormous sigh in regret and disappointment. The young girl fought the urge to bury her head between her knees and wallow in self-pity as she continued the long walk down the Mourning …

The time required for the blade to fall was short. An object that fell from the skies could accelerate to a tremendous velocity simply due to gravity’s effect, much less one hurled towards the ground by an Immortal Being’s will. In the brief moment of time that An Fei held as she witnessed the sword fall, her arms were raised …

The Mourning Forest at night was no different than the forest during the day. The dense weaving of branches and leaves blotted out the smallest of fragments of the astral light seeping from the dark skies, and the gentle breeze rubbing against the trees’ bark was denied entry into the solemn mausoleum. The darkness was overwhelming and the silence harrowed …

All that could be seen was an elderly woman in her seventies kneeling at the height of a peak, glancing towards the vast bounds of the earth and the almighty presence of the skies as she pleaded and screamed in grief. Though quiet the human voice became when it attained such great years, Mei Yue’s voice attenuated by her spiritual …

That day, Xu Lingxin entertained a particular visitor that had chanced onto her Mourning Peak. Rather, the celestial maiden had resigned herself that the elderly woman standing before her with crossed arms and quivering eyebrows was inevitable. As such, Xu Lingxin fanned herself and remained seated besides the cooking fire and watched He Xin diligently mix blocks of dried spice …